A protection bet is motivated by the desire to extract equity before potentially disastrous runout cards deteriorate a hand’s advantage. Unlike a pure value bet, a protection bet accepts a smaller sizing in exchange for denying equity to opponent draws. EV analysis of protection bets includes the value of denying equity: even if opponents fold hands currently behind, preventing draw realizations has standalone value. Excessive emphasis on protection can lead to incorrect sizing when the hand is strong enough to warrant a larger value bet.